Jetstar had the worst flight delays during the Christmas period

TRAVELLERS flying Jetstar over the Christmas period were the most likely to be late, while Qantas passengers were most likely to have their plane cancelled.

Just 73 per cent of domestic Jetstar planes left on time in December, compared to 82 per cent of Qantas and Virgin Australia planes and 81 per cent of Tiger Airways flights.

But Qantas also had the most cancellations for the month at 2 per cent, the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics figures show.

Jetstar spokesman Stephen Moynihan said its performance in December was not where the airline or its customers would like it to be and it was making changes to improve punctuality.

They include introducing mobile check in for passengers at airports, in which flight attendants use an Eftpos-like device to check passengers in while they are in the queue, and increasing the use of dual door boarding.

"Being Australia's largest low fares airline does not mean customers should expect low levels of service and reliability,'' the spokesman said.

"Everyone at Jetstar is committed to boosting our performance and we expect to see punctuality improvements in the coming months.''

Tiger spokeswoman Vanessa Regan said its substantially improved result was thanks to a concerted effort by the company to focus on better punctuality and customer satisfaction.

"The December result shows a marked improvement on previous months and is particularly pleasing given the additional capacity flown in December (around 60 sectors or flights a day) during what is typically the busiest month for air travel in Australia,'' she said.

While she admitted the good weather helped, she said the carrier had also invested in more staff in operations and engineering and a new line operations maintenance provider.

"The airline has come a long way over the past year and a half and these solid results are testimony to the dedication and hard work of the entire team at Tiger,'' she said.

Qantas also had the most on time arrivals at 80 per cent, followed by Tiger at 79 per cent, Virgin at 78 per cent and Jetstar at 74 per cent.

Virgin Australia ad the most on time departures for regional airlines at 86 per cent followed by Regional Express at 85 per cent, QantasLink at 79 per cent and Skywest at 76 per cent.

Six months earlier Tiger was worst when it came to on time performance, with just 76 per cent of Tiger planes departing on time and less than 74 per cent arriving on time.